Sunday, 3 June 2012

Eaglemont

A short ten minute drive from the house brings me to Eaglemont Tennis Club, the parking venue for this week's MelBushO event. This may be the shortest distance I have ever travelled to an orienteering event.

After the modest success of last week, I decide to opt for the B course, the second longest of the four on offer. Eaglemont Park edges the banks of a winding section of the River Yarra, wide and deep at this point.
I set off from the start, after waiting for a brief shower to abate. Crossing the river by the footbridge, I decide not to look down into the watery depths below. On the 1:7500 map, the white is very runnable and the green patches help navigation. The high and noisy dual carriageway is ever-present. In fact, I pass under it no less than six times.

No exotic fauna to report this week, except for many mountain bikers, runners and walkers. The park is busy today. I lose time at control 15 when an unmarked path catches me out. Otherwise, no real navigational dramas. Physically, it's a bit of a struggle. My legs feel quite heavy and wobbly.
Quite a reasonable result though. I manage 3.9km in 39 minutes+, about 10 mins/km. Fastest I've done for a while - about 10 years, in fact.

Next week, I will head for Daylesford and my first State Series event. Glenluce was used for the World Masters Championships some years ago, so it will be challenging. Should be fun!